EBSCO Industries

EBSCO Industries, Inc.

Type	Private
Industry	Conglomerate
Founded	1944
Headquarters	Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Key people	James T. Holt Stephens Chairman F. Dixon Brooke Jr. , President Chief Executive Officer
Products	EBSCOhost NetLibrary
Revenue	$2.5 billion USD (2008)
Employees	5,000 (2006)
Website	ebscoind.com

EBSCO Industries, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is a privately held, widely diversified corporation and the largest subscription agency in the world^{[according to whom?]}. It was founded in 1944 by Elton Bryson Stephens (hence the EBSCO acronym Elton B Stephens COmpany). EBSCO is one of the largest privately held companies in Alabama, and one of the top 200 in the nation, based on revenues and employee numbers, according to Forbes Magazine.^[1] In 1997 sales surpassed $1 billion. In 2006 sales exceeded $2 billion. EBSCO is a diverse company which includes over 30 businesses:

• Publishing of journal article databases
• Subscription provider for more than 300,000 journals serving more than 50,000 libraries worldwide
• Fishing lures (the world's largest manufacturer)
• Steel joist and metal roof deck manufacturing
• Real estate development

History

Elton Bryson Stephens earned money for college (he attended Birmingham Southern College) by selling magazines door-to-door. He soon became a sales manager and began hiring salespeople and sending them across the country to sell magazine subscriptions. In 1936, Stephens earned a law degree from the University of Alabama, but decided that managing the sale of magazines was more profitable than practicing law.^[2] In 1944, Stephens formed a partnership with his wife, Alys Robinson Stephens, to sell magazine subscriptions, personalized binders and magazine racks to the U.S. Armed Forces. They named this "Military Service Company", and over the next decade acquired several other companies that were eventually combined to form EBSCO Industries Inc. In 2011, EBSCO Publishing merged with The H.W. Wilson Company.^[3]

EBSCO companies

Information Services EBSCO Information Services EBSCO Subscription Services EBSCO Publishing EBSCO Research, LLC General Services Academic Search Complete Military Service Company Vulcan Service EBSCO Book Services Magazine Express Magazines for Educators Grand View Media Group S.S. Nesbit & Co EBSCO Professional Partners Group EBSCO TeleServices EBSCO Promotional Products EBSCO Reception Room Subscription Services Publisher Promotion and Fulfillment MetaPress NetLibrary Publisher's Warehouse Real Estate Mt Laurel Alys Beach

Manufacturing PRADCO Outdoor Brands Knight and Hale Game Calls Code Blue Carry-Lite Decoys and Accessories Knight Rifles Modern Muzzleloaders Green Mountain Rifle Barrel Company Summit Treestands Moultrie Feeders Wingscapes BirdCam PRADCO-Fishing Valley Joist EBSCO Media Four Seasons and Vitronic H. Wilson Company Luxor (business furniture) Vulcan Industries Vulcan Information Packaging EBSCO Sign Group Stewart Signs Outdoor Signs America Corporate Signs America EBSCO LED Displays Wayne Industries Tinker Business Forms NSC International Siegel Display Products B2B Essentials

The MetaPress division provides an online content management and hosting system, also called MetaPress, for scholarly publishers. It is comprised of collections of social science, scientific, technical, and medical journals.

External links

• B2B Essentials
• EBSCO Industries official web site
• EBSCO Reception Room Subscription Services
• Funding Universe profile
• MetaPress

References

1. ^ http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/21/biz_06privates_The-Largest-Private-Companies_Company_5.html
2. ^ http://www.ebscoind.com/about-es.asp
3. ^ EBSCO Publishing and The H.W. Wilson Company Make Joint Announcement of Merger Agreement. . hwwilson.com. June 1, 2011. http://www.hwwilson.com/news/newsPressDetails.cfm?pressID=161. Retrieved August 24, 2011.